


The Job

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26895688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: Jay is the second one security calls when there's a problem.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 28





	The Job

Jay checked the peep hole before pulling his hotel room door open to greet one of the dozen or so security agents travelling with the staff. He knew a few of them well, they’d been part of the team since the beginning, but this was one of the newer ones.

“Mister Whitman, the on-duty agents asked if I could have you come downstairs. The Secretary is out on the beach.” He could see in the agent’s face that something was amiss.

He squinted and tipped his head to the side, looking back and out the window at the darkness before turning back to the agent. “It’s past dark out.”

“I know. The Secretary took a walk on her own this evening claiming she wanted to see the sunset. Frank had no problem with it at the time but now that it’s dark, he’d really like her to come in and she won’t.”

Jay frowned. “She’s refused?” He knew his boss could be stubborn, but usually only when there was a good reason. Granted, she didn’t always share that reason with any of them. Sometimes it was hard having a former spy as a boss and it made him wonder how Henry put up with the not knowing. There were five of them and they still often didn’t have enough pieces of the puzzle between them to understand why she would do something.

The agent sighed. “From what I understand, she’s not actually said anything. Frank called me when he couldn’t reach Mister Moran. I tried his door but got no answer, so Frank asked me to try you instead.” He shifted his weight. “There’s not an obvious imminent threat, but we aren’t big fans of taking unnecessary risks. The alternate is to physically bring her back to the hotel.” It was clear that the agent was worried about how that would end, even if he weren’t the one to have to do it.

“No. No. I’ll come down.” He looked over what he was wearing- sweats and a t-shirt and decided it would do. He found some shoes and pulled them on. “Blake didn’t go out with her?” He asked once they were in the hall. It struck him as odd, his friend never was out of contact with the detail and it was rare that their boss went anywhere while away from DC without him at her side.

“I haven’t seen him this evening. Frank took over shortly after dinner with the evening team, so he may know more.”

Jay didn’t ask anything further until they crossed the sand to where six agents were spread out in the dark. “Hey.” He greeted Frank. “What’s going on?” He could see all six were on high alert as they stared down the beach and even out across the water.

Frank frowned but kept his voice low. “The Secretary stated she wanted to take a bit of a walk and see the sunset. I inquired about Mister Moran’s absence from the excursion once I realized she would be alone but got no answer as to where he is. She went out there and hasn’t moved since.” _Out there_ was perched on a small concrete and wood jetty that jutted out into the surf. “When it got dark and she still didn’t move, I called Mister Moran directly but got no answer. She’s not communicating, and I find it extremely concerning that I haven’t been able to reach him.”

Jay knew Blake was always security’s first call to handle their boss. Short of having Henry present, no one nudged, goaded, or coerced Elizabeth into doing anything as well as he did. The pair had generally amiable connection, but even in the moments where they did push the envelope with one another, their irritation never prevented them from being there for each other. “I don’t know of any reason he wouldn’t answer.” He stared out into the darkness. The tide was up so the jetty was almost entirely surrounded by inky black water. He’d have to walk along the narrow and uneven top to reach her. In some spots, the pounding surf had worn the concrete thin, it would be a precarious walk and he wasn’t sure how the Secretary made it to the pylon she was seated on. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Hopefully you can coax her in. Otherwise I’ll have to force her in and I’m not sure that’s what’s best.” When Jay turned to him with a curious look, he went on. “She appeared distraught when we came out. Sullen even. She doesn’t talk to us, however. I had hoped that Mister Moran was joining her. It’s no secret he’s her confidant. I can’t recall that last time I saw her like this.”

Jay only nodded and started out along the jetty, taking a seat as best he could behind her on the edge of the same pylon. It was precarious. He looked down into the surf and wondered how deep it might be at that point, deciding it likely wasn’t deep at all. “Ma’am. It’s getting late and it’s dark, security wants you inside.” Sometimes stating the obvious worked. She would get so caught up in her own mind, her own world as she worked through something, that she would miss the obvious like needing to eat, or sleep, or that it was getting late.

“I know.” Her voice was soft against the waves just below them. “But I can’t.”

He leaned forward slightly, hoping to judge her mood from the part of her face he could see. “Why not?”

“Because I can’t fix it. I’ve been sitting here trying to work out how to and I just…can’t.” She drew a rough breath. “I chose the treaty over that young man.” She turned and he could see tears shimmering in her eyes in the moonlight. “There had to be a way to save him as well as the agreement and I didn’t even try.”

“You did what you could.” It was no comfort, he was well aware, but some days their jobs well and truly sucked no matter how hard they tried.

“No. I didn’t. And now… And now he may never speak to me again.” She swallowed. “I need to fix it.”

He didn’t understand. They’d never spoken to the man in prison, likely never would. An NGO had been how they’d even heard about his plight. Jay played her words over and over in his mind, trying to work it out until it hit him. The whole issue had been brought to light by Blake, who had been rather passionate about needing to save this young man. A young man, it became clear over the past few days, that Blake identified very closely with. They were close in age and shared what Jay suspected were many other similarities as well and inaction on the Secretary’s part had left him fuming. “Blake got upset when you said it was for the greater good.” It’d been himself in that position years ago. It started to make things fall into place for him though. “He shut you out.”

The notion that his friend was so angry as to close himself off from their boss worried him. It wasn’t as if the pair never fought; the entire staff had been known to raise their voices from time to time, passions ran hot in their line of work. But even in those moments of frustration and anger, none of them ever simply bottled it up. They always let each other get it out so it could be dealt with. Jay knew, as they all did, that Blake could be cutting with his words when he was really angry, but he’d never known his friend to shut himself away.

He only knew a tear broke free because she swiped her hand across her face. “He wouldn’t talk to me at dinner. Or after. He- he wouldn’t come out to walk with me so I could try and explain it.”

Jay considered that a moment. His friend would never abandon his official duties as State Department Employee, but the duties that fell under private personal assistant? Or the things he did that went even beyond that; the moments he simply acted as friend and confidant and even caretaker at times? He’d seen before that those were the areas where Blake would be more like to push back or hold out. “I’m so sorry.” It was little comfort, he knew. “How about we go back in and talk it over? Maybe I can find a way to still save this man and the treaty.” _Anything_ , he thought to himself, _to get off the jetty._

“It’s too late.”

“It’s not too late. There’s still time to think of something. Maybe an inducement or a trade.” _Yep, patron saint of the long shot, indeed._ “Let’s go back in and figure it out.” He stood but she didn’t move. He did his best to channel how Blake handled her when she got like this and hoped it wouldn’t end with the both of them dumped into the ocean inches beneath their feet. Bending, he tucked a hand under her arm and made as if he were about to haul her to her feet. He’d seen his friend do it before and while it irritated her a bit, usually she complied. “Come on before Frank comes out here and carries you in.” It seemed to work as she let him help her up and then carefully walked off the jetty and across the sand.

Once they were safely approaching the dimly lit hotel deck, Jay stayed back as the rest of the agents followed her in, indicating to Frank for him to hang back as well. “They’ve had an argument.”

Frank seemed to take a second to follow, but then his eyes widened. “You mean she and Mister Moran?”

He nodded. “I’ll try fixing it, but they could be at odds with one another for a bit either way.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Jay suspected the larger man was thinking about how much Blake did that made their jobs easier. While the Secretary had a reputation within her closest staff for her penchant to go off script and off plan, Blake obsessively attempted to always adhere to every script and plan. “Give me a minute to try and talk to him.” They followed the others upstairs and Jay watched his boss vanish into her own room before he knocked on Blake’s door. When he got no response, he spoke through it. “Blake, I know you’re in there. We need to talk. If you don’t let me in, I’m sending security down for a copy of your room key.” He began to count to ten in his head, at eight the door opened. “Let me in.” He ordered.

“I’m not up for company.” The door stayed open only a small amount.

Jay stared at him hard. “I just had to go out in the dark and haul the Secretary off a jetty because she refused to come in when security wanted her to. I had to go because you refused to answer when they tried to contact you. Let me in.”

Blake huffed, but backed up and opened the door.

“Look, I’m going to skip the niceties. I get why you’re upset and I’m not saying you shouldn’t be. Be upset! That man is very likely going to die soon because of his orientation. I’ve fought this same battle before. I get it. But you still have to do your job.”

“I have been. It’s not in my job description to handhold while she wanders around in the dark feeling sorry for herself.” His tone was venomous.

“We are all years past saying anything is or isn’t in our job descriptions and you know it. The Secretary _is_ our job description. Elizabeth _is_ our job description. It’s why I didn’t hesitate to go out tonight and risk falling into the ocean. Because _this job_ is to always do what she needs us to do, even when that thing is odd or emotional or uncomfortable.” He sighed. “If something had happened, you would’ve beat yourself up for months about it. Years maybe.” He tried to plead to his friend’s deep connection to their boss.

Blake opened his mouth to speak, probably to rebut Jay’s statement, but he was cut off by a knock. He opened the door to find Frank standing there, looking deeply concerned.

“You need to get to her room now.”

Jay watched as Blake hesitated a moment before snatching the second room key of the desk and rushing across the hall. He followed as Blake let himself into the room.

Once the door was open, Jay heard what he suspected security had heard and he stepped in silently to see what was happening. The Secretary was curled up on one of the beds, crying and gasping. It took Jay a second to recognize it as a panic attack; the way she was shaking and seemed unable to catch her breath. Attacks were rare anymore, though they’d each witnessed more than one over the years.

Instantly the anger and hesitation his friend had carried only seconds before seemed to melt away as he climbed up beside her and pulled her close, speaking softly to her. Jay hovered near the door, watching and listening for several minutes before he quietly excused himself from the room. Hopefully they would actually communicate now. While they worked it out, he would get started on another attempted at saving the man in question.


End file.
